8 /10 1 Votes
Country United Kingdom Media type Print (Hardback) ISBN 0007313144 | 4/5 Goodreads Language English Originally published 1994 Genre Detective fiction | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Series Dalziel and Pascoe series, #13 Preceded by Recalled to Life, One Small Step: A Dalziel and Pascoe Novella Followed by Pictures of Perfection, The Wood Beyond Similar Reginald Hill books, Dalziel/Pascoe mystery books, Fiction books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pictures of Perfection is a 1994 crime novel by Reginald Hill, and part of the Dalziel and Pascoe series. The title is a quote from a letter by Jane Austen—"Pictures of perfection, as you know, make me sick and wicked." A quote from Austen's letters is included at the beginning of each chapter, and the story itself makes innumerable references to Austen's novels.
Plot summary
The plot involves a missing constable in the Yorkshire village of Enscombe (which is the name of the estate where Frank Churchill lives in the Austen novel Emma). While investigating the issue, the detectives Peter Pascoe and Edgar Wield become acquainted with the inhabitants of the town, and it becomes clear that there are a great many secrets that are being kept. Most of the characters featured in the novel bear a strong resemblance to a character from one of the novels of Jane Austen.